The next chapter.

Well, it seems after the long road, its come to this.
My time in Japan has finally come to a close. Lots of things happened in the final month. Work kept me occupied, and at the same time distracted. Then there's the passing of my grandmother. And that caused quite a ruckus.
But all the smoke has cleared and I am looking at a new chapter in my life. I think I'm still not feeling the full effects yet. Somehow, its like I lack a certain closure.

But here goes; a step forward into the next...

back in the game.

Its been awhile.
this time around, I survived a badly sprained neck, the wrath of something called a deadline, and putting the doujinshi together.

All in all, it really sapped me. The doujin was especially tough. Drawing it was the least of my problems actually. The co-ordination and administration involved in making this is really quite a handful. Thankfully Misao-san has experience and was of a great help. But its done, and I've sent it to the press. Now all that remains is to wait for the day of the event. its gonna be something to really look forward to... ^_^

Done like dinner!

So its post E3 and all the reports are in.
Lost Planet did pretty well at E3. Considering that it was prolly one of the most comprehensive playable demos on the show floor. My producer even told be that there were words of praise from the immortal Hideo Kojima!
I'm starting to build some sort of expectation for this game...

But on other ends, contract talked have seemingly come to a stand still. All parties involed are quite at a loss as to how to approach thie current situation. I won't go into details, but I think the current situation is kinda sticky. Just there seems to be little that anybody can do to bring the talks to another level. I'm not going to be a pawn though, cracking my brains thinking of ways to help facilitate the interests of all parties.

Lastly, I announced on the community boards to the doujin members, the deadline
for the artwork going into the publication. With that, I hope to see them giving me an update on their induvidual status. All 5 pieces of my new work is done. Now only thing left is to arrange the artwork and format them. I hope all is well with the other members. Irregardless of their input, I'm still going ahead with the publication.
So here's a quick look at the final piece.

Cloud on Fenrir...


It feels good to finally get it done. Now I can concentrate on the other stuff. I think I kinda let it drag alittle too long. But its done non-the-less. One more item struck off of my 'to do' list. Now, I just wait for the day the book launches.
Gonna go relax abit and do some light sketching.

She's married!

Yes, Yes, Yes!
In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, my sister is now officially married.
And although it was only for 2 days, I really enjoyed myself, basking in such a joyous event.

Its something about seeing your sister moving on into the next step of her life. My blessing to her life in holy matrimony.

It really blitzed past. I remember touching down in Singapore in the afternoon. My parents picked me up from the airport. I reached my new place with an estatic Happy whining and basically going looney when he realized that I was home. the dear old boy is as energetic as ever.

Then my parents took me around the neigbourhood. I can't help but really feel foreign. Really made me think about what life would be like, had I not left. So later, we went to pick up my 2 sisters and my cousin who were shopping in town.
And as expected, when we met, my hair became the brunt of all jokes.
And they were going on about how my parents have 3 daughters now.

Went back home soon after. Happy wanted to play! So I entertained my favorite dog until he started chewing on my blanket. Then I gave up. I'm just not a fan of using a blanket dripping with saliva. But Happy sleeps near me when I turn in for the night. He does that often when I'm back. Sometimes you can wake up to him slobbering you in the face. But its cute to see him sleeping there quietly next to you.

happy munching on my blanket...


another shot of me and happy.


The next day we woke up to a bang. And the whole house was abuzz with anticipation as everybody prepared to head to the registery of marriage.
After welcoming relatives and well-wishers alike, the proceedings went smoothly and my sister and her beau were pronounced Man and Wife!

Sis getting her hair done!


Sis complained about my messy hair and forced me to go through this!


see how pretty she is!


sis, my mom, and my ever doting aunts.


the happy couple!


a rare candid shot!


the kiss!


the 2 families.


everybody that came!


Then it was lunch with the in laws. Nothing much really happened at lunch. Except my dad launching off about how my sister is a lousy cook and can't do much housework. XD
Also, got to play with my little nephew, darren. He a really joy I tell ya. Got really hyper. My cousin had a kid when I was away in Japan, so I never got to meet his son.

here's darren! cute huh?


Then the day called us back home. And preparations were made for the dinner reception we were holding. As not all our realtives were able to amke it to the registry, my sister held a dinner reception.
In poured all my relatives, bearing well wishes and blessings. Camera flashes and all, it was a night that I got re-aquainted with many of my distant relatives. Odd that it is only after the distant that my job put between us that we began to talk deeper.

My grandma, uncles and my aunts!


family shot!


my cousin Max, who doubled as the cameraman, and his girlfriend.


and what family celbration would it be without my buddies!?


One of the hilights of the evening for me was the fact that I had to win back the favour of my little niece. She said I embarrassed her earlier in the day and refused to talk to me! T_T So I had to make amends! Luckliy its nothing that a little sketch can't fix! Seems she really likes art even at such a young age. So I gave her a few drawing tips and drew her a picture. After that, all was well. ^_^

my darling niece

cute isn't she?


After dinner, I went for a sleepover at my best friend's house for a trip down memory lane. The 3 of us had loads of fun talking about days past. And updating each other with what has been happening with us. Known KK for almost 20 years, and CS for about 10 years. It was definatley a very enjoyable evening. Its times like these, make you think of how valuable friendship is. How many people can say they have friends from waaaaaay back. And times like these really make me feel blessed.

Woke up and Kk's mother prepared an extremely mouth-watering breakfast. Its been awhile but I'm never short of good food when I come over to visit.

I was supposed to head over to my cousin, Max's, place to pick up the wedding photos, but he had already delivered it to my place when I reached home. Thanks man!

Then, It was time to get prepared to fly. Time crept by and next thing I knew, I was back in my apartment in Nishinomiya, writing this. I dunno, I have alot floating through my head right now. But I'll prolly leave it as after thoughts as I'm still hazy as tho what I am thinking of. In all, It really was an incredible event. And Its been awhile since I last felt this kind of celebration.

And as an ending note, Yes, I still don't really remember my brother-in-law's name...>_<

I just may make it!

Sat myself down and ploughed my way through the model. And I'm glad to say, I will finish the placeholder model by today. Then tomorrow I weight the model and prepare the parts-breakdown diagram. Once I get that out, I can head home to Singapore without worrying too much about the work I'm leaving behind.

Won't be going home tonight though. Actually I thought I had basketball tomorrow, but I met Iwamura-san in the elevator today and he said I got the dates mixed up. So that means I have more time to polish up the model. Actually glad that I got this much done. It was starting to seem like I wasn't going to make it.

On a side note, I was absolutely thrilled to see the lastest reports from E3 this morning! Final Fantasy XIII was announced! Seems Square is going all out to sucker punch its fans by putting out 3 games under the FF XIII banner. But seriously, I'm only really interested in Final Fantasy 'versus' XIII. Its the action adventure game of the 3. The RPG proper kinda feels iffy because of the female lead, And I'm not into mobile gaming.

But Nomura Tetsuya is doing the character designs this time round, so I hope he can continue to surprise me like he did before. With this new piece of news, it really makes the Playstation 3 an alluring item. With the hardware priced at a whopping　￥70,000, its gonna be a big purchase. But, I know Devil May Cry 4 is on it, and now with Final Fantasy XIII, it seems very likely that I'll be giving Sony ￥70,000 for christmas!

3 more days...

Well, here I am on a monday night, struggling to get the model out in time.
The bloddy rain made me stay home yesterday. And I guess I'm suffering from that decision now. There is absolutely no way I can get the model out in time by wednesday. I can get it out, but, its the presentation that takes time. the exporting of the model to the game engine, the preparation of the model for the programmers, the adminstration that comes after completing the model proper is the real time killer. I don't regret suggesting and taking on this task, its just a chain of events that keeps interfering with the process. Worse of all, I am working off of Nakaoka-san's model. Its frustrating because, he's kinda sloppy when it comes to modeling, vertices and polygons strewn all over the scene. Most of the time is spent cleaning up his model. Giving me a really hard time trying to figure out the construction, and subsequently, build on top of it.

Been helping Kaji-san with his e-mails to Capcom USA. They are speaking to him about Lost Planet, and I'm helping him communicate with the guys over in the states.

Then comes the trip home. I'm thinking of bring a bulk of my stuff home. But then, How much can I bring back, and more importantly, what do I bring back? Almost 50% of my clothes are going to be thrown away, and I still need my books. Prolly bring back all my traditional art equipment. Bring back the bulky winter-wear and the suits, and some of the lesser used books.

3 more days till I fly and I haven't even made much preparations. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up going home empty handed.

Not in my best condition right now. Just have to bite the bullet and pull this rabbit out of the hat. Everything will be fine once I get these 2 models out.

Rain, rain, here to stay.

Stayed indoors, the whole day today. It started raining in the wee hours of the morning, and its still drizzling now.
Note worthy was my trip to Kentucy Fried Chicken for dinner. I ordered a 4 piece set, and got 5 pieces of chicken in the box! Lucky! Or so I thought. When I finished the 5th piece of chicken, I suddenly felt really bloated. Not the best feeling I tell ya. Especially if its raining outside and you can't go for a stroll.
No matter, I stayed in and finished cleaning up all the other drawings going to the doujin. So effectively, there is only one more painting left to complete. Shouldn't be a problem. One full day's worth of work, and I should have it in the bag.
here's a quick look at what's done.
Dante and Vergil.


Mai Shiranui


But even though I got alot done, it just doesn't seem that the day is complete. Maybe its me avoiding packing for my impending trip home. It just felt alittle uneasy. Somehow, the day doesn't feel like it should end. Quite unsettling in some way. But no matter, What's important is I finished what needed to be done.

So, its a fresh start tomorrow, a new challenge. Got 3 days to ship out another model, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Schedule is packed enough as it is. I just hope everything will be smooth sailing from here on.

Man I just wished I know what is that nagging feeling I have over my shoulder...